


Where the trees can see you

by semicolonsandsimiles



Category: Dreamer Trilogy - Maggie Stiefvater, Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lindenmere (Dreamer Trilogy), Opal POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24389875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/semicolonsandsimiles/pseuds/semicolonsandsimiles
Summary: Hennessy was half-sitting, half-lying against the big tree on the other side of the clearing. Dreaming. She was alone. Opal watched without coming closer.----------------------------Hennessy's dreams still want to hurt her. Opal helps.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10
Collections: TRC/ CDTH Prompt Week 2020





	Where the trees can see you

**Author's Note:**

> For day 2 of TRC/Dreamer Trilogy prompt week: hurt/comfort.

Lindenmere was agitated about something today.

Kerah and Adam said the forest was safe, but Opal thought that was silly. She knew what they meant: the thing they had called the demon wasn’t here. But  _ safe _ wasn’t a word that applied to things like Lindenmere.

Lindenmere was forest-shaped, but it wasn’t made out of plant stuff. Like how Opal was mostly human-shaped, but she wasn’t made out of animal stuff. Opal and Lindenmere were made out of the same type of stuff, but Lindenmere was very big and Opal was very small. Neither of them was  _ safe. _

Opal wasn’t safe because she was small, so she was in danger from bigger, stronger things. Lindenmere wasn’t safe because it was so big that it could be dangerous to small things without meaning to. Lindenmere liked Opal, so it tried to be safe for her. But when it got agitated like today, Opal worried that it might do something dangerous without meaning to, like dropping a tree branch on her. 

“Lindenmere,” Opal yelled. The trees made the rustling sound that meant they were listening. “What is bothering you?” She asked this in tree-words, because Lindenmere understood those the best. Adam said Opal was trilingual, which as best she could tell meant that humans didn’t know as many words as Opal did. She’d had to work out which words were only tree words and which ones people knew, too.

The trees whispered back to her, directing her to a clearing Kerah liked to use for dreaming. When Opal got there, she found Kerah’s dreamer-friend. 

Hennessy was half-sitting, half-lying against the big tree on the other side of the clearing. Dreaming. She was alone. Opal watched without coming closer.

When Hennessy woke up, her eyes immediately went wide and scared. She was holding a flower identical to the ones on her neck. It was even flat and skin-textured like those flowers; a tattoo that wasn’t on a person’s skin. Hennessy blinked rapidly, and a tear rolled out of each eye. “Shit,” she said softly. “Fuck.” Opal didn’t think Hennessy had seen her, so she must be talking to herself.

Something in Hennessy’s dream was scary. Opal could help with dreaming, but scary dream-things were tricky. She could help with scary things that came from Kerah’s head, but sometimes the scary things came because they wanted to be there. Opal couldn’t help with those things; she was too small, and also she was naturally fearful. Opal had thought she was fearful because she was small, but Adam said being brave had nothing to do with how big you were.

Opal decided she could be brave and small today. She trotted over to Hennessy and pressed herself up against her side.

Hennessy leaned into her. “Hey, kiddo,” she said. “What’re you doing here?”

“There’s a scary thing in your dream,” Opal told her. Hennessy screwed her face up like the words tasted bad. “Sometimes I can help make scary dreams better.”

“Oh, Opal.” Hennessy closed her eyes and dropped her head back against the tree. “I don’t think you’ll be able to do anything about the Lace. I thought coming to Lindenmere might make it better, but--” She opened her eyes and shook her head.

Opal sat down and took one of Hennessy’s hands between both of hers. “We can try,” she said. “I’ll tell Lindenmere to help.”

Hennessy took a deep breath. “Okay, kid. Let’s go for it.” 

Opal told Lindenmere in tree-language to keep them safe. Then they were in the dream.

They were in the same clearing, but the sky was dark. It was completely covered with big, grey-black thunderclouds. A loud boom of thunder echoed through the forest, and lightning flashed down somewhere in the mountains.

“Lindenmere,” Opal scolded. “ _ Safe. _ ”

Thunder boomed again, and the trees creaked around them.  _ I have to be dangerous to keep you safe from the outside danger _ , Lindenmere said. Opal didn’t recognize the final word it used, but she somehow knew it referred to the thing Hennessy called the Lace.

Opal was still holding Hennessy’s hand. She squeezed it. “Is your scary thing scared of thunderstorms?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Hennessy replied. Her eyes darted all around the clearing, looking for something. “I didn’t think it was scared of anything. Let’s go for a walk and find out, shall we?” She stood up, pulling Opal up with her.

The trees got louder when they left the clearing. Opal listened carefully, in case they were trying to tell her something, but they weren’t. This seemed to be their method for keeping the scary thing away from Opal and Hennessy.

When Kerah came to the dream place to bring something back, the thing he wanted would usually be close to where he entered the dream. There would usually be some strange objects he didn’t want, too, because that seemed to be how human brains worked. Walking with Hennessy so far, Opal had seen nothing that didn’t belong in the forest.

“What are we looking for?” She asked.

“Nothing,” Hennessy said fiercely. “I need to figure out how to dream without bringing anything back. So we have to avoid the Lace.” She stopped to look around. “I guess it’s working so far.”

“Should we leave now?” Lindenmere had kept them safe so far, but the trees were getting louder and more active the longer they stayed in the dream. The wind picked up, rushing through the branches and whipping them back and forth.

“Maybe so,” Hennessy agreed. “But I don’t know--”

Suddenly something was there. Opal was terrified, more terrified than she could remember being ever before. The thing was like the demon, except somehow more. It was an enormous, hateful presence, and it was  _ looking at her. _

Opal screamed. She became vaguely aware that she was holding Hennessy’s hand, and that was the only reason she stopped screaming. She was supposed to be brave and help Hennessy.

Opal looked at Hennessy. Hennessy looked too scared to scream. Her eyes were staring through the Lace, and she was shaking. 

“Hennessy,” Opal said quietly, though she didn’t think it would stop the Lace from hearing her, “It’s time to wake up.”

Hennessy squeezed Opal’s hand and squeezed her eyes shut. For a long, horrible moment nothing happened. The Lace closed in. It was going to engulf them completely, and then Hennessy wouldn’t be able to keep from bringing it back--

They were back in the clearing. The horror had lifted, although now Opal found herself shaking as much as Hennessy had been. The Lace was not there.

Hennessy’s eyes were still closed, but there were tear tracks on her cheeks. Two more tears squeezed out from under her eyelids. “God,” Hennessy sniffled, “I’m such a fuck-up.”

Opal scooted closer. Hennessy opened her eyes and looked at her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have let you come. I end up bringing the Lace into my dreams no matter how hard I try not to.”

Opal wasn’t sure exactly what the Lace was, but she knew this wasn’t right. “No,” she said.

“No?”

“You’re not bringing the Lace. It’s too big to be brought.” Opal tried to think how to explain with words. “The Lace comes because it wants to be there. It’s not your fault.”

“But it  _ is _ my fault--” Hennessy choked back a sob-- “that I can’t keep it away.”

_ “No, _ ” Opal insisted, frustrated. “It’s too big. And I’m too small to help keep it away.”

“We’re screwed,” Hennessy whispered. “We’re so fucking screwed.” Her tears were falling fast now, but she was crying without sound.

Opal climbed into Hennessy’s lap so she could press her face into Hennessy’s shoulder and wrap her arms around her neck. “No,” she said, “Kerah and Adam will help. We’ll find out how to make it go away.”

“Sure,” Hennessy said, although she didn’t sound sure. “You shouldn’t be involved in this, kid.”

“I’m not a kid, I’m an Opal.”

Hennessy brought her arms up to hug Opal tightly. “You’re right. I’m glad you’re an Opal.”

**Author's Note:**

> *waves hands vaguely in the direction of post-cdth timeline* this happens somewhere in there.


End file.
